Color-reflecting plastic button



' Sept. 18, 1951 w. BACKMAN 2,568,212

COLOR-REFLECTING PLASTIC BUTTON Filed March 4, 1947 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM BACKMAN ATTORNEYS on W 24001;.-

Patented Sept. 18, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COLOR-REFLECTING PLASTIC BUTTON William Backman, Sacramento, Calif.

Application March 4, 1947, Serial No. 732,334

2 Claims. 1

The present invention relates toimprovements in color-reflecting plastic buttons and method of making same. tions, constructions, arrangement of parts, and steps of the method hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide buttons that are particularly attractive in appearance and durable in character. The buttons are fashioned from transparent material and have color disposed on the interior thereof, which is protected by the buttons against wear. Each button has bevelled surfaces that serve as reflecting surfaces to give images of the color contained in the button. As the button is moved about, various bevelled surfaces will appear to be colored, and the image of the color will shift upon moving the button into different attitudes of presentation relative to an observer.

More specifically described, I bond strips of crystal-clear material together by a colored solvent. Buttons are made from these bonded strips. The sides of the buttons are bevelled so that they will act as reflectors, and thus the color contained in the bond may be viewed as the buttons are moved.

A further object is to provide buttons which have openings therein for attaching the buttons to garments. or the like, the openings being arranged to show as clear strips on the reflecting surfaces. This enhances the general appeal of the buttons and adds to their beauty.

Another object of the invention is to provide processes for making color-reflecting buttons. Elongated strips of transparent material, such as Lucite, are bonded together by color solvent. Accordingly, a number of buttons may be fashioned from these bonded strips. Longitudinal and transverse bevels are cut on these strips to give the reflecting surfaces desired, and yet the strips are not separated into individual buttons until the latter part of the process. This permits a number of buttons to be processed at one time, and materially aids in reducing the cost of manufacture.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the specification continues, and the novel features of my invention will'be set forth in the appended claims.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 is an isometric view of a pair of transparent strips, which are bonded together by a colored solvent, and illustrating the first step of my process;

Figure-2 discloses the same strips in isometric after a V-shaped groove has been cut into the top thereof along the median plane of the bonded strips;

It consists of the combina- Figure 3 shows the strips after opposing sides 0; the strips have been bevelled lengthwise there- 0 Figure 4 discloses the succeeding steps of crossbevelling the strips prior to breaking the latter into individual buttons, and further illustrating thread-receiving openings fashioned in each button;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of a completed button;

Figures 6 and 7 are elevational views taken along the lines VI--VI and VII-VII, respectively, of Figure 5, the buttons being stitched to sections of cloth;

Figure 8 is an isometric view of a pair of extruded plastic strips having the longitudinal bevels formed thereon during the extruding operatlon; and

Figure 9 illustrates the extruded plastic strips after a V-shaped groove has been fashioned therein; it being noted that the product at this stage is identical with that shown in Figure 3, which will result inthe same buttons as disclosed in Figures 5 to 7, inclusive.

While I have shown only the preferred forms of my invention, it should be understood that various changes, or modifications, may be made within the scope of the annexed claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

Referring to the drawings in detail, first I will describe the procedure of making my colorreflecting buttons as covered in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive. Strips A and B are cut from flat stock of suitable transparent plastic material. These strips are arranged in confronting relation with one another, and have flat abutting surfaces I, which are bonded together by colored solvent. The latter produces a color plane 2 extending lengthwise of the strips from the front or upper face 3 of the strips to the underside 4 thereof.

In actual practice, I use ethylene di-chloride as a solvent, containing appropriate dye stuff. The drawing has been shaded to indicate blue color, although it is obvious that various colors of dye may be employed.

As the next step, the bonded strips are milled t) the desired cross sectional form,v Then a vshaped groove! is fashioned inthetop of the strips at their abutting surface I, the groove extending lengthwise of the bonded strips in registry with the color plane 2. Nowythe strips are turned over and opposing sides of the bonded strips are bevelled longitudinally, as at 6. Then all flat sides are lapped and buffed. The product at this stage is shown in Figure 3.

The next step is to cross-bevel the bondd strips with V-shaped milled cuts extending trans versely of the strips, but without entirely cutting through the strips. This cross-milling produces reflecting surfaces 1. The ieng t h w isg and crossbevelling give each button a substantially truncated pyramid shape. The cross-bevels are buffed, and then openings 8 are drilled through each button to be formed. These openings extend from the front face 3 to the underside 4. The diameter of the openings is greater than the thickness of the color plane 2 so that the body of the button will be uncolored at the points where the openings are drilled.

The buttons are separated from each other by breaking the strips transversely at 9, that is, at the apexes of the bevelled surfaces I. All sharp edges are buffed; the buttons C are inspected for sharp corners; and the latter are removed by lapp g.

Figures 6 and 7 show one of the individual buttons as being secured to a section of garment D by threads Ill. The upper loops Ia of the threads are accommodated in the V-shaped groove 5, and the threads pass downwardly through the openings 8 and into the cloth or garment. I

A modified method of forming the buttons is shown in Figures 8 and 9. In this case, extruded plastic strips A and B are formed according to specifications to eliminate practically all milling operations. This will reduce the manufacturing cost materially. The strips are extruded with the lengthwise bevels 6 thereon. The strips are bonded'together by colored solvent to define a color plane 2' extending lengthwise of the strips between abutting flat surfaces I. The front or upper face 3 and the underside 4' are lapped to clean up residual dye. The V-shaped groove 5' for the threads is formed in the face 3' along the medial plane of the combined strips. The bonded strips are buffed all over, and the resulting product will be the same as that shown in Figure 3. The cross-bevelling, drilling, breaking individual buttons apart, bufiing edges and inspecting will be the same as that previously described in connection with the first method and the .buttons produced will be identical.

When viewing the button C from above, as suggested by the rays I I in Figure 6, the bevels 6 and I act as reflecting surfaces. An observer directly above the button will see the image of the color plane 2 in the bevelled surfaces 6. Also the reflections 8a of the openings 8 will appear as clear spaces on the surfaces 6. This is due to the fact that the diameter of the openings 8 is greater than the thickness of the color plane 2; accordingly, there is no color remaining at the places where the holes are drilled. One of the distinctive features of the button is that the reflection of the button holes breaks up the reflection of the color band and the button hole reflections appear as rays to in the color band, see Figure 5.

As the attitude of the button is changed relative to the observer, the images of the color plane on the reflecting surfaces 6 will vary. When viewing the button along the line I Ia in Figure 6, the left-hand reflecting surface 6 in this illustration will appear clear, while the right-hand reflecting surface 6, the left-hand edge of the groove 5 and the color plane itself will show color.

When viewing the button from the side thereof at normal to the color plane, as in Figure 7, the color plane will appear through the surface 6; likewise, the opening 8 will be visible.

The drawings disclose the bevels 6 and I as being disposed at relative to the front face 3 of the button. This angle may be increased, or decreased, within limits without departing from the invention. As long as the line of sight of an observer. as suggested by the rays II are reflected so as to strike the color plane 2, the observer will see the color.

I claim:

1. A color-reflecting. button comprising two halves made of light-transmitting material; each half having a flat surface; the flat surfaces abutting one another and being bonded together with a coloring material extending over the bonded surfaces to form a colored plane protected by the button halves from opposite sides of the plane; each half also being provided with a light-reflecting surface whose plane extends at an angle to the colored plane; each half further being provided with a surface constituting the top surface of the button; the top surfaces of the button halves lying in the same plane and making an angle with the light-reflecting surfaces; said light-reflecting surfaces being disposed on opposite sides of the button and converging downwardly toward each other from the top surfaces so that the reflected colored plane can beviewed when looking at the top of the button.

2. A color-reflecting button comprising two halves made of light-transmitting material; each half having a fiat surface; the flat surfaces abutting one another and being bonded together with a coloring material extending over the bonded surfaces to form a colored plane protected by the button halves from opposite sides of the plane; each half also being provided with a light-reflecting surface whose plane extends at an angle to the colored plane; each half further being provided with a surface constituting the top surface of the button; the top surfaces of the button halves lying in the same plane and making an angle with the light-reflecting surfaces; said light-reflecting surfaces being disposed on opposite sides of the button and converging downwardly toward each other from the top surfaces so that the reflected colored plane can be viewed when looking at the top of the button; said button having thread-receiving holes whose axes lie in the colored plane; the walls of the opening extending on both sides of the plane thereby interrupting the colored plane by areas equal to the length and diameter of the openings; the areas resembling shafts of light in the reflected colored plane when looking at the button top.

WILLIAM BACKMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 199,850 Miller Jan. 29, 1878 235,799 Naylor Dec. 21, 1880 342,514 Hormann May 25, 1883 699,516 Hackenberg May 6, 1902 1,477,094 Wilson Dec. 11, 1923 1,994,164 Bailey Mar. 12, 1935 2,252,821 Thompson Aug. 19, 1941 2,354,857 Gits Aug. 1, 1944 2,423,640 Dally -L July 8, 1947 OTHER REFERENCES Striped Heart: Popular Mechanics, February 1946; page 97.

Pearson: Piping Light with Acrylic Materials, Rohm & Haas: reprinted from August 1946 of Modern Plastics. 

1. A COLOR-REFLECTING BUTTON COMPRISING TWO HALVES MADE OF LIGHT-TRANSMITTING MATERIALS; EACH HALF HAVING A FLAT SURFACE; THE FLAT SURFACES ABUTTING ONE ANOTHER AND BEING BONDED TOGETHER WITH A COLORING MATERIAL EXTENDING OVER THE BONDED SURFACES TO FORM A COLORED PLANE PROTECTED BY THE BUTTON HALVES FROM OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE PLANE; EACH HALF ALSO BEING PROVIDED WITH A LIGHT-REFLECTING SURFACE WHOSE PLANE EXTENDS AT AN ANGLE TO THE COLORED PLANE; EACH HALF FURTHER BEING PROVIDED WITH A SURFACE CONSTITUTING THE TOP SURFACE OF THE BUTTON; THE TOP SURFACES OF THE BUTTON HALVES LYING IN THE SAME PLANE AND MAKING AN ANGLE WITH THE LIGHT-REFLECTING SURFACES; SAID LIGHT-REFLECTING SURFACES BEING DISPOSED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE BUTTON AND CONVERGING DOWNWARDLY TOWARD EACH OTHER FROM THE TOP SURFACES SO THAT THE REFLECTED COLORED PLANE CAN BE VIEWED WHBEN LOOKING AT THE TOP OF THE BUTTON. 